Vol. 111 - Part I - Zoological Survey of India

26 Rec. zool. Surv. India
Host Plants : Erythrina spp., Ipomaea spp.,
Jasminum spp., Solanus spp., Tectona grandis, Vitex
negundo, etc.
2. Acherontia styx styx (Westwood)
1848. Sphenx (Acherontia) styx Westwood, Cab. Or. Ent., :
88.
1937. Acherontia styx styx, Bell & Scott, Fauna Brit. India,
Moths, 5 : 58.
Diagnosis : Skull mark on thorax is less
conspicuous. Fore wing with tawny-russet streaks. The
basal third of hind wing upper side being immaculate
instead of marked with black. Abdomen bears yellow
side-patches well extensive. Fore tibiae with few spines.
Material Examined : 1 ex., 6.viii.1975, Rajendra
Nagar, Patna, Bihar. Coll. K.C. Kansal; 2 exx., 5.viii.2008;
2 exx., 6.viii.2008; 1 ex., 7.viii.2008. Pindra pera, Dalma
wildlife sanctuary, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand, coll. S.
Sambath & Party.
Wingspan : 90-130 mm.
Occurrence : April-August.
Distribution : India : Jharkhand (East Singhbhum),
Bihar (Patna), Madhya Pradesh (Indore, Jabalpur,
Seoni), Orissa (Sundargarh) and West Bengal (Bankura,
Barddhaman, and Kolkata) and throughout the rest of
the mainland.
Elsewhere : Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka.
Host Plants : Jasminum spp., Nyctanthes, Sesamum
indicum, Vitex negudo.
Genus Herse Oken
3. Herse convolvuli convolvuli (Linnaeus)
1758. Sphinx convolvuli Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10 : 490.
1937. Herse convolvuli convolvuli, Bell & Scott, Fauna Brit.
India, Moths, 5 : 61.
Diagnosis : Fore wing with many narrow whitish
lunulate bands, obsolescent on some specimens. Hind
wing pale grey with broad subbasal, two median and
post median fuscuous transverse bands. Abdomen with
red lateral transverse spots.
Material Examined : 2 exx., 5.viii.2008, Pindra pera,
Dalma wildlife sanctuary, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand,
coll. S. Sambath & Party.
Wingspan : 80-120 mm.
Occurrence : August-December
Distribution : India : Jharkhand (East Singhbhum),
Orissa (Cuttack), West Bengal and throughout the rest
of the mainland.
Elsewhere : Eastern hemisphere except the higher
latitudes, Europe and rarely in England, Siberia.
Host Plants : Plants of the family Leguminosae and
Convolvulaceae.
Tribe SPHINGINI
Genus Meganoton Boisduval
4. Meganoton nyctiphanes (Walk)
1856. Macrosila nyctiphanes Walker, List Specimens lepid.
Insects Colln Br. Mus., 8 : 209.
1937. Meganoton nyctiphanes, Bell & Scott, Fauna Brit.
India, Moths, 5 : 73.
Diagnosis : Upper side dark brown. Fore wing
variegated with various shades of brown and grey
scales and crossed by numerous waved dark lines. Hind
wing dark brown with a series of pale spots across the
disc. Head, thorax and abdomen white below ; abdomen
with white segmental streaks at sides.
Material Examined : 1 ex., 6.viii.2008; 3 exx.,
27.ix.2008; 2 exx., 4.xii.2008, Pindra pera, Dalma wildlife
sanctuary, East Singhbhum, Jharkhand, coll. S. Sambath
& Party.
Wingspan : 105-125 mm.
Occurrence : August-December.
Distribution : India : Jharkhand (East Singhbhum),
Andaman Islands, East Himalaya and Southern
peninsula.
Elsewhere : Malaya, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Host Plants : Symphorema involucratum.
Genus Psilogramma Rothschild & Jordan
5. Psilogramma menephron menephron (Cramer)
1780. Sphinx menephron Cramer, Pap. Exot., 3 : 164.
1937. Psilogramma menephron menephron, Bell & Scott,
Fauna Brit. India, Moths, 5 : 77.
Diagnosis : Head, thorax and abdomen and fore wing
grey; dark brown bands along sides of palpi and thorax
meeting on metathorax, where there are blue and yellow
scales; abdomen with a blackish dorsal stripe and
brown subdorsal segmental patches. Fore wing with
dark oblique lines from costa; hind wing brown, with a